Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 22 Maturing

In the Kazekage’s office, Taryn watched her brother standing at the window. A warm smile was on her face. She knew she had made the right decision last year. He was better suited to be Kazekage then she would ever have been.
Of course the council had objected, saying Gaara was too young. That the One Tail was too unpredictable. Taryn had answered them that age had noting to do with strength, there were enough shinobi that were appointed Jounin at an early age, herself included. Hadn’t they accepted her as Kazekage too? Besides, that same One Tailed beast they feared now, had originally been fused with Gaara to protect the village. Gaara had shown he could control it. He had protected her and brought Matsuri back. He was valuable to the village and a good leader. Yes, he was young, but he could learn. Didn’t the council exist to advise the Kazekage?
In the end they had given in and that decision had proven to benefit the village.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked.
Gaara turned around and nodded. He walked to his desk and pulled out a file. “I’ve decided to assign a team to you,” he said, "Genin fresh from the Academy.“
Taryn stared at him and gave a nervous laugh. “You had me there for a moment,” she said, “very funny.”
Gaara sat down and pushed the file in her direction. “I’ve been told all three of them are very promising. They only need guidance.”
Taryn’s laugh died out. “You’re not joking,” she stated.
Gaara looked at her calmly. “All Genin will meet their sensei tomorrow morning. You should study this file before then. It holds all their grades from the Academy. Their strong and weak points.” He sighed and folded his arms. “I’ve seen the document of all the students that graduated this year. I’ve studied them carefully and I believe these three will be the right team for you. Meet with them tomorrow, Taryn, and tell me what you  think afterwards, but I know I made the right choice.”
Taryn picked up the file. “Are you sure you want me to train these children?”
“It might be good for you too to try something new,” Gaara told her.
“There is no way I can get out of this, is there,” Taryn sighed.
“No,” her brother said, “now leave. I have work to do.”

Taryn looked at the three boys that sat in front of her in the middle of the training grounds. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do with this new responsibility. Genin indeed, and they didn’t seem to take this very seriously.
Two of the boys were obviously friends. They were joking and laughing together. ‘Great,’ she thought, ‘he put two troublemakers in my watch. I should have known.’  Her eyes landed on the third boy who sat a little aside. He had black hair and dark eyes with a serious expression. He was watching his teammates silently, but when he felt her eyes on him, he turned to her with a calm look.
Taryn returned his look with the same calmness and turned to the other boys again who were still poking eachother. She sighed. ‘Well, here goes nothing,’
“If you are done,” she spoke, “can we get started then?”
The boys turned their attention to her. “Sorry sensei,” one of them said with a sheepish grin and scratched hi head.
“Right,” Taryn said, “let’s start with something simple. I want each of you to tell me something about your teammates. You start.” She looked at the boy that had grinned.
He looked at her confused. “About our teammates? Not about ourselves?”
“You heard me,” Taryn answered.
“Okay,” the boy shrugged. He pointed to the brown haired boy next to him. “This is Daro Kamori. We’ve been friends for years. We pull a lot of pranks together. He lives three streets away from mine. His parents own the pottery next to the marketplace. Oh… and he’s in love with Casey Miller from the bakery.”
“I am not!” Daro protested.
“Are too,” his friend smirked.
“Shut up!” Daro growled and was about to smack him.
“That’s enough!” Taryn interrupted. Both of them tensed. “Continue,” Taryn said.
“Right,” the boy answered. He looked past his friend at the black-haired boy. “His name is Kuro Shiraki… he doesn’t talk much, but he’s alright… you like birds, right?”
Kuro only stared at him.
“Well, I guess that’s it, the first boy ended the introductions. “Your turn,” he said to Daro, “make me look good.”
Daro rolled his eyes. “This idiot is Hiroshi Tomoda. His father served the special guard until he got badly injured. Now he’s at home full time, but he often trains with us and teaches us techniques. Hiro’s sister is Yuna and she was made Jounin not long ago… and Kuro…” he hesitated for a moment and looked at the boy. “Didn’t you have a brother?”
Kuro stiffened for a moment and gave a quiet nod. It stayed silent a moment longer.
Kuro eyed Taryn warily and saw her somewhat annoyed expression when she was looking at her team. He felt nervous. When he had heard who was going to be their team leader, he had been both excited and scared. He knew her reputation, his father had told him about her. He could learn a lot from her, because she was very skilled. But also… she didn’t seem to like people very much. He had heard she was demanding and he feared he couldn’t live up to her expectations.
He glanced at Hiro and Daro. They were so confident. He had been in class with them for three years so he knew they were good fighters. Taryn must know that too. She must have read the files before coming here this morning. So why did she look at them as if they had just insulted her? He glanced at Taryn again.

“You are assigned to Taryn Desertstorm? You can learn a lot from that one, Kuro. But she’s not the easiest person to get along with. Make a good first impression, son. She’ll test you. So think before you answer her. Don’t worry. You’ll do fine.”

He sighed, making Taryn look at him. ‘A test, huh,’ he thought. What could it be? ‘Why would she let us tell her about eachother instead of about ourselves?’  
“Kuro?” Taryn asked. He looked at her uncertain. “Your turn,” she said.
Quickly he recalled everything she had said since they had arrived here. Start with something simple, she had said, tell me about your teammates. Perhaps it wasn’t as simple as it had seemed. What would she want to hear about his teammates?... Her… teammates… Then it dawned on him.
“Hey Kuro,” Hiro poked him with his index finger, “wake up.”
Kuro frowned. What did he know about them? Not much about their likes and dislikes that was certain. They hadn’t hung out much at the Academy. Or anywhere else for that matter. He didn’t have too many friends. Not that the other children picked on him. They were nice enough. He just liked being alone.
But he knew other things.
He nodded and straightened up. “Hiroshi Tomoda,” he said, “eleven years old. Family of four. He was in the highest ranks of graduation class. He’s smart and strong and good at calculus. His jutsu are water based and he’s a long distance fighter. His weak point is that he gets distracted easily, but he is loyal to his friends. His father served in the special guard, but was severely injured on a mission which caused permanent damage to his knee.
"Daro Kamori, twelve years old. Family of three. His parents are not ninja, but his uncle is. He was top of his class at graduation and he has a good memory. His jutsu is earth based and he’s both a close combat and a long range fighter. His attacks are good, but his defense needs improvement.” Kuro paused a moment to think what else he could say, but there was nothing. His teammates stared at him confused.
Then Kuro looked at Taryn. “Taryn Desertstorm of Suna. Family of six, but your parents passed away. Sister of the current Kazekage, daughter of the former Kazekage. Jutsu are wind and lightning based. Both close combat and long range fighter. Related to the Hyuuga clan of Konohagakure and in the possession of the Byakugan eye. Youngest contestant ever to participate in the Chuunin Exams, made Jounin at the age of nine…” he hesitated, “they say… they say you betrayed Suna…”
“Shut up!” Hiro said, “she’s our sensei, you can’t say things like that. It can’t be true or she wouldn’t be here!”
“He’s right,” Taryn said calmly.
All three boys looked at her and she continued.
“They do say that. Whether it is true or not you’ll have to decide for yourself. Never let anyone tell you what to think.”
Hiro looked at her confused. “But, what about obeying orders then?”
“Obeying orders is not the same as blindly doing as you’re told. Trust your teammates, but think for yourself.” She turned to Kuro. “Good job,” she nodded at him. She then looked at each of them. “There was a reason I gave you this assignment. You need to know your teammates. When you go on a mission together, you have to rely on eachother. So you need to know eachother’s weak and strong points. You need to be able to help eachother in a tight situation.” She turned to Kuro again. “Since your teammates did such a wonderful job, why don’t you tell us about yourself as well?”
Kuro stiffened. He glanced at his teammates who looked at him curiously.
“Go on Kuro,” Daro said.
“Kuro Shiraki,” he started, “eleven years old. Family of fi… four.” He took a deep breath. “My mother teaches at the Academy. My father takes care of the messenger birds.”
Taryn smiled. “I thought I recognized you,” she said, “I’ve seen you in the tower a few times, helping your father.”
Kuro nodded. “He lets me come sometimes.”
“Cool,” Hiro said, “I’ve never been there before.” He grinned. “Do you think you can take me sometimes?”
“I don’t know,” Kuro said hesitantly.
Taryn cleared her throat. Kuro had been right. Hiro was easily distracted.
The boy looked at her and gave a nervous chuckle. “Sorry.”
“Genjutsu is my specialty,” Kuro continued, “I have an older sister who is a Jounin. She’s currently on a mission. My brother…” Kuro swallowed. Taryn nodded encouraging. “He was… killed in action two years ago…. He was… guarding the Kazekage when…” His lip trembled.
“It’s alright,” Taryn said.
Hiro and Daro looked at him sadly. “Sorry man,” Daro said, “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” Kuro said.
Taryn stood up. “There is another reason why I gave you this assignment. You need to learn how to report. It’s not enough to say where your enemy is from. You need to be able to describe him. Every detail can be important. How he moves, how he talks. Does he have an accent. What are his weak points, what is his fighting style. What is the base of his jutsu.” She turned to Hiro and Daro. “You three have been in class together for three years yet you couldn’t tell me a thing about Kuro. And Kuro, you understood the assignment and you have good knowledge of the statistics, but you keep a distance between you and the others. I want you to work on that. Now, follow me. I want to see you fight. Study eachother carefully and we will try this again tomorrow. When we go on a mission, I don’t want to bring three people that can fight. I want a team.”